The Barzani Charity Foundation is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organization which was foundedin 2005 in Erbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Mr Masrour Barzani is the head of BCF’s Board ofFounders and directly oversees the operation of this foundation.

The BCF has legal permission to work as a charitable non-governmental organization from both the Iraqi Governmentand the KRG. The increasing activities of the BCF in the area of humanitarian response to IDPs and refugeesinside and outside KRI has given great credibility to the BCF in relation to reputable intergovernmental and internationalorganizations and resulted in increased cooperation and coordination between the BCF and other concernedparties. These factors lead to the BCF being granted a Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic andSocial Council (ECOSOC) in the organization’s meeting in April 2016.

The BCF aims to provide assistance to local people in need, internally displaced people and refugees. The BCF alsoaims to improve the education (especially child education) and health fields in the Region and strives to improvethe lives and opportunities of the disabled and people with special needs. In addition, orphan care makes one ofthe BCF’s major working areas so far.

Barzani Charity Foundation has been named after the legendary Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani (1903 -1979). Theworking philosophy of the foundation is based on a statement by Barzani where he says (It is a privilege to serveone’s own people). Therefore, people or humanity make the center for the BCF’s humanitarian work. For that,where there is a need for humanitarian assistance, the BCF considers its own responsibility to help, especiallywhere it falls within its capacity and working sectors including (food assistance, non-food assistance, health andWASH, disability and education).

The lack of a domestic charitable organization in the Kurdistan Region to provide assistance to people in need andother disadvantaged people necessitated the establishment of the BCF in 2005. Besides, as the result of the securitydisruption in other parts of Iraq and in Syria following the unfolding of armed conflicts post 2003, the large refugeeand internally displaced people who took sanctuary in the Kurdistan Region were in urgent need for assistanceto receive food, clothing, health care, and shelter. The BCF has tried to fill the gap since its inception back in 2005and strived to give a helping hand in various areas to those needed assistance the most.

The BCF’s headquarter is in Erbil, the capital city of the KRI and it has offices in Duhok, Sulaymaniyah, the Sinjar Mountzin and Germyan. In addition, in cooperation with Erbil Joint Crisis CoordinationCentre (EJCC), the BCF manages (13) camps within Erbil Governorate. The BCF also maintains offices at all camps in the KRI.